NFL Draft Diamonds Prospect Interview: Dame Ndiaye, TE/DE, Portland State University
NFL Draft Diamonds and our staff have been bringing our readers Prospect Interviews over the past 2 years and this year we mixed up the questions and added some fun questions for our readers. We have tons of NFL staff that read our interviews, and we actually received several of the questions from NFL scouts we speak too. This gives them a little bit more information regarding your character. We hope to bring you more than 300 interviews of NFL Draft Prospects this season. You will be able to track them all on the front page of our website in the banner.
What is your name?
Dame Ndiaye
What is your Height/Weight?
6″4 250 pounds
What is your position?
Tight end /defensive end
Where do you play college football?
Portland state university
Football is about giving back, what is the coolest thing you have done off the field?
Go to children’s hospitals and meet the kids. I like to read to them and put a smile on there faces .
What was the hardest college class you ever had to take?
Math period and business marketing
Where are you from?
Born in Dakar Senegal West Africa , grew up in Brooklyn New York went to high school in San Diego California
Who is your role model, and why?
Big brother Elhadji Ndiaye , always been by my side. He has always been happy with anything I did in life and always gives me great advice by leading by example.
Did you play any other sports growing up?
Yes soccer and then basketball my first real love
Did you play any other positions in football?
Wide Receiver , Safety
At your position, what separates you from others?
At tight end its my speed with one on one coverage and my tenacity as a blocker I have a defensive mindset as a blocker to punish a defender . At defensive end its my motor and my ability to chase down plays from backside in a such quickness and my pass rush skills. My hands are good and I have good athletic ability from spins moves to counters to different variation simply my first step get off
When you are breaking down film, what do you look for?
When breaking down film as a player I look for my opponents style , habits and what they like to do. I don’t focus too much much on them because it takes me away from my Instincts rather then Just thinking and assuming that’s what they going to do when they play me. I just like to know what they do . At tight end When I’m watching myself I look at my weaknesses and what I could have done better as a player, especially Blocking and running routes. As a defensive end I look for at the offensive linemen’s stance, and ask is it a run/pass? I look at other keys and see how they correlate and then let Instincts take over over by reading the keys during game time.
Who was the toughest player you ever faced?
As defensive end my sophomore year it was #76 the tackle from Sacramento State as a Tight End it would be teammate Sadat Sulleyman
If you could compare your play to one player in the NFL who would it be and why?
As a defensive end it would probably be more then one, as in Demarcus Ware ,Von Miller , Robert Mathis and as a tight end I would say two guys Vernon Davis ,Will Tye
Being homeless growing up in New York with my family and going to different homeless shelters in different boroughs and living in homes where you had to sign in and out to be kept tracked off. I overcome them by staying positive and not letting it affect us my dad did a great job of making me my sister and brother do that .
Do you have any pre-game rituals?
Stretch , music , tape
What is your biggest strength?
Work ethic!
What is your biggest weakness?
Over working myself
If I were a GM and gave you a second to sell yourself, what would you say?
It would be a pleasure and privilege to play for the their franchise, would get a humble hard working kid with a really big chip on his shoulder to prove people wrong.
Who was your favorite player and/or NFL team growing up?
My favorite team was the New York Giants and favorite player was Terrell Owens
If you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would you choose?
Dave Chappelle , my Grandma , My Dad
What will be the first big item you buy once you are in the NFL?
A home for my Mom in Africa and move my dad to a nice condo in New York
Rapid Answers:
- Tupac or Biggie?
- NFL Network or ESPN?
- Coke or Pepsi?
- Pizza or Burgers?
- Dogs or Cats?